This is the second part of our two-part series on writing your own Watchtower article. In part one we saw how a Witness is likely to believe anything — no matter how ridiculous or how it might fly in the face of current beliefs — as long as it is wrapped inside a Watchtower cover. Here [...]

I’ll confess to a secret fear I had when I was a Witness. It actually planted the first of many “seeds of doubt” that have since grown into the mighty forest that now separates me from the delusion. My fear was this: What if some devious person were to write a fake copy of the [&he [...]

I bet you’ve heard the term “Unconditional Love” said more than once at the Kingdom Hall and at the various Jehovah’s Witness assemblies you’ve been to? Let’s face it, we’ve all heard that term, but have we ever sat back and thought about what “Uncondi [...]

Exposing the truthabout Jehovah's Witnesses

JW Beliefs

What do Jehovah’s Witnesses believe? In fact, what do a lot of other religions believe in? Hocus pocus if you ask me. Either way, our ‘Beliefs’ category takes a look at various religious belief systems.

Cult

Many say that the Jehovah’s Witness religion is a cult. Do you think it’s a cult? In this section, we’ve housed all the blog posts that show you if it is a cult or not. You might be shocked at what you find.

JW Leadership

The Watchtower Organisation looks after all the Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide. The good news about the ‘Organisation’ is that it keeps having magic moments, allowing us to poke fun at it.

Real Life Experiences

This section is filled with the real life experiences of former and current Jehovah’s Witnesses. It’s a real eye opener that shows you what various trials and tribulations Jehovah’s Witness go through.

Funnies

Check out the latest funny posts. If you’re single, the chat up / pick up lines article will have you rolling around on the Kingdom Hall floor. That’ll make you wish you stayed behind for ‘Hall Cleaning’.

Life After Leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses

Submitted by Jaymes on July 6, 2012 - 1:32 pm9 Comments

Today is a very special day if you are a Jehovah’s Witness in Cyprus. It’s the annual ‘district convention’! That’s right, three long days of being bored to death listening to drivel about how you aren’t good enough and should be doing more for the organization. Thank goodness I am no longer in the cult and have to subject myself to such torture.

And that’s what I want to talk about – life after leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses. When I was a JW, I heard so many stories about how lucky we were to be in god’s organization. It offered protection from the evils of the world, a moral barrier that stopped you getting in debt at christmas or getting some sort of sexually transmitted disease from going on an unchaperoned date. To leave the Jehovah’s Witnesses was to will unhappiness, stress and problems upon yourself.

What I am about to say may sound over the top, as if I am exaggerating, but believe me, I am not at all. I can not state this clearly enough – since I left the Jehovah’s Witnesses, I have never been so happy. It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. No more constant stress worrying to make sure you’re still thinking so that the demons don’t possess you, no more sleepless nights apologising in prayer for being human. I was a slave to religion and false ideas, and now I am free. To be in service to god is to wish to be an abject slave.

I imagine some Jehovah’s Witnesses will be saying, “Yes, but your happiness is only temporary,” or that I am only happy because I am part of the materialistic and evil world. My happiness is only temporary in that one day I will die. The whole idea of god allowing this ‘system of things’ to carry on as it is, is just wrong. Immoral even. I know… I know… Jehovah’s Witnesses are convinced that everyone suffering is all part of a master plan to clear god’s name because god just loves us all to little pieces. Just think about that for a minute and you see how abstract and vile the whole idea is.

I have also heard it said that people who don’t believe in god have no purpose in life or do not feel fulfilled. That simply isn’t true. My own mother in law, a Jehovah’s Witness, once told me that there has to be a god, otherwise there’d be no purpose in life. She gets irritated whenever something anti-god or anti-JW comes up, but thinks I am unreasonable if I do the same when I hear something pro-god or pro-JW – but I digress and that story is for another blog post.

The simple fact is that life without god is good, but I realise not all of you dear readers are atheists like I am. Life without the Jehovah’s Witnesses, though, is fantastic. I get to re-explore the universe as if for the first time, free from the shackles of the cult. I get to re-evaluate my life goals and priorities, and I tell you – without the promise of everlasting life and the excuse to fall back on that god will fix things, I have found myself much more pro-human. Where before I would hear things from my father-in-law like, “Doctors shouldn’t bother trying to cure cancer – they should spread gods news because he will heal cancer in the new system,” I now realise how precious human life is and that we should do everything in our power to alleviate the pain and suffering that others are in. I realise what an amazing species we are, with our ups and downs. I realise, much to the chagrin of Jehovah’s Witnesses, that life is valuable, not mere dust, and that something real has to be done to help people rather than just knocking on doors and leaving tracts. My purpose in life, then, is clear.

Guess what? The world outside the JWs isn’t all doom and gloom, wars, murders and greed. In fact, humans are doing quite well for themselves – we are living in a time with less violence than any other time, people live longer thanks to medical advances, and we’re in a golden age of scientific research where we are gaining the same amount of knowledge every single day that we have ever learned in all the years of our past. I’ll blog about that in a future article – the fact that things are getting better, not worse as the Jehovah’s Witnesses would have you believe with their ‘last days’ nonsense.

How about you? Are you happier since leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses? How have you changed?

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I am just now discovering your site…..however, I would like to say it’s fantastic! Leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses brought on untold happiness. I bleed for the people who still serve this organization. You’re deluded. Please do some study and prayer.

I must say that after being a JW for almost fifteen years. I am seeing the world for the first time since my” unoffical”l fade in 2009 with out the warped world view of the Watchtower’s lens. It is BEAUTIFUL!! Education is Great! Football games are Fabulous!! Sleeping in on Saturday is pretty cool too!! Not hearing one more insult hurled on non-JW’s, at those SNOOZE FEST assemblies and conventions..STELLAR!!! Did you guys know that college actually improves your life?!?

My only struggle is finding a” spiritual” group I can call home. I have visited a few mainstream churches and I can’t say that I have found the one I fit into. So I have recently visited a spriritual group that embraces all faiths… This is a bit of a challenge, since the group consists of some people that are openly lesbian/gay.

I know Jesus loves them too… It is just very different from the JW world where members “sweep” secrets into a vault.

I do agree with Andrew. My life is happier too since leaving the JW organization!!

http://www.JehovahsWitnessBlog.com Andrew

Thanks Steve, glad you liked the article.

http://smmcroberts.net Steve

Bravo, Andrew!
I got out 35 years ago when I was still young. I remember when I was leaving “Bethel” and going back home (never to set foot in a Kingdom Hall again) — I was aglow with a feeling of love for the everyday people on the Greyhound bus: people whom I would’ve silently called “goats” in my JW delusion.
When I think about how those 35 years would’ve been spent as a JW robot in their fantasy-land and negative mind-set I am so relieved to have chosen reality and freedom. My life has had its ups and downs, but at least it was me at the helm; not some old farts in Brooklyn calling the shots with their perverted judgment.
I remember studying one of their oddly named books called “Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God”. Well, I chose “Life in freedom from the sons of b*****s” and am Everlastingly grateful for that decision.

Cheryl

Cannot agree enough. I have been free for 16 years and get happier the longer I am out. I cant remember ever been happy in the cult. On Sunday I saw two JW sisters doing field service and one of them was dragging her little boy behind her. I was so upset on the little boys behalf. Its pure child abuse to drag your children out on field service. You cant possible be happy living that life.

Joel

I’m an atheist and former JW myself and couldn’t agree more. Very well said.

Deranged Jdub

After 40 years I finally am free! The feeling of that yoke being gone is almost indescribable! I already have a better appreciation for people, and the value each person can bring to the table! The world might seem lousy to a junkie- but most of us just want to be human!

I died July 18, 1989 (baptism) and will be reborn on July 17th, 2012!! Uhm?? That’s def. the universe speaking! lmao

http://www.JehovahsWitnessBlog.com Andrew

David, thanks for your comment. I did specifically point out in my post that I do understand not everyone is atheist, and that’s up to each person as to what they believe. I did drop that bit in because I so often hear people say rubbish such as ‘atheists are evil’ and wanted to point out that it just isn’t true at all. You don’t need god to be happy and good anymore than you need to be a Jehovah’s Witness.

You say you believe in god and claim you know his name and his attributes when there is no way you could possibly know, in my opinion. You just… well, ‘feel’ it I suppose because there is no real evidence for god. At least that is where I stand – I think we should all demand evidence before accepting any claim, religious or not. What you believe is totally your call, we’ll just disagree. The main thought of my post is more about how life after leaving the JWs is better, and I am glad you agree on that. We can have the god discussion another time if you like, or feel free to email me andrew AT jehovahswitnessblog.com – I am always up for friendly discussion.

http://JWB David Scott

Just wanted to comment about my take after leaving the jws first of all saying that there is no God but the God that jws talk about is just not true after leaving I have found God and Life God’s name is Jesus Christ He is our mediator no other and just how fragile life really is and how short of time here on earth we really have I’ve also learned the true meaning of unconditional Love not just a front to bring more people into a doomsday cult. I don’t know how many times the jws told me there is no life outside the watchtower this is just not true there is a happy life outside the borg and a happiness the jws can’t ever realize while on the inside. I can tell you for sure happiness is just outside the jw doors and God and lots of happy people are waiting with arms wide open …Love you all if I sound brash didn’t mean to come off that way sorry